**Z-Valhalla Stadium (Constructed overnight by Metal Knight and Hephaestus).**
**Sunday. 1:00 PM. Clear Skies.**
The diamond is not dirt. It is crushed adamantite.
The bases are not bags. They are enchanted runes.
The outfield wall is a forcefield maintained by **Blast**, who hovers behind home plate wearing an umpire mask.
"Play ball!" Blast bellows. His voice is amplified by a black hole microphone. "No killing. No reality warping. No spitting on the ref."
The stands are packed. Humans, monsters, spirits, and minor deities share popcorn.
Brunhilde sits in the VIP box, clutching a betting slip. "I put the entire treasury on the Gods. If we lose, we are eating moss."
**The Stakes.**
On a pedestal behind home plate sits **The Prize**.
It glows with a holy aura stronger than any god.
**The Infinity Coupon.**
Effect: 100% discount on all living expenses, food, and rent for 500 years. Transferable across dimensions.
Saitama stares at the coupon.
He is wearing a baseball uniform (Yellow/Red). He holds a bat he found in the trash.
His eyes are burning with a fire that eclipsed his battle with Boros.
"I need it," Saitama whispers. "I need the savings."
**Top of the 1st: Team Gods Batting.**
**Pitcher:** Metal Bat (Team Heroes).
**Batter:** Thor (Team Gods).
Thor steps to the plate. He does not hold a bat. He holds Mjolnir (which is technically against the rules, but Blast allowed it because Thor cried when they tried to take it away).
"Come on!" Metal Bat pumps himself up. Fighting Spirit rising. "I'm gonna strike out a god!"
Metal Bat winds up.
He throws. **Dragon Thrashing Pitch.**
The ball screams at Mach 2. It spins violently.
Thor smiles. "A worthy throw."
He swings.
*CRACK-BOOM.*
Mjolnir connects. Thunder strikes the field.
The ball disintegrates. It turns into plasma. It creates a shockwave that blows Metal Bat's pompadour back.
"Foul ball!" Blast calls, catching the vaporized remains in a gravity well.
"He destroyed the ball," Metal Bat shouts. "That's an out!"
"Nay!" Thor argues. "The ball was weak!"
**Bottom of the 3rd.**
Score: 0-0. (Mainly because every ball keeps exploding).
**Batter:** King (Team Heroes).
**Pitcher:** Shiva (Team Gods).
Shiva stands on the mound. All four arms hold baseballs. He juggles them.
"I'm gonna strike this guy out! Look at him! He's just standing there!"
King stands in the batter's box. He holds the bat like it's a foreign object. He has never played baseball.
*DOOM-DOOM-DOOM.*
The engine roars. The ground vibrates.
Shiva pauses. He looks at King's stance.
It looks... open. Too open.
*It's a trap,* Shiva realizes. sweat forms on his purple skin. *If I throw a fastball, he'll counter with a cross-counter strike that shatters my wrist. If I throw a curveball, he'll read the spin and hit it into the sun.*
Shiva trembles.
"I... I can't pitch to him! The pressure! He's daring me to throw!"
"Just throw it!" Zeus yells from the dugout.
"NO!" Shiva drops the ball. "I walk him! Take the base! Just don't hurt me!"
King drops the bat. He exhales (which sounds like a hiss of steam).
"Wise choice."
He walks to first base. His legs are shaking, but everyone thinks it's suppressive stomping.
**Top of the 7th. The Speed Battle.**
**Base Runner:** Hermes.
**Catcher:** Genos.
Hermes is on First Base.
He leans.
"I'm going," Hermes whispers. "I am the concept of velocity."
The pitch is thrown.
Hermes vanishes.
Genos's sensors track the blur.
"Rocket Arm!" Genos detaches his left arm. The hand holding the ball fires toward Second Base.
Hermes reaches Second Base.
The rocket hand reaches Second Base.
They collide.
*Bang.*
Dust clears.
Hermes is tagged out.
Genos's arm is smoking. "Calculated intercept. My thrusters exceed your sandals."
Hermes sits in the dirt. "Beaten by hardware? The indignity!"
**Bottom of the 9th.**
Score: Gods 99 - Heroes 99.
(Points awarded for style because standard runs became impossible).
Two outs. Bases loaded.
**Pitcher:** Zeus (Adamas Form).
**Batter:** Saitama.
This is it. The confrontation that ends the arc.
Zeus stands on the mound. He compresses his muscles. He is a monster of veins and ego.
"I waited for this," Zeus growls. "Baseball... is the sport of Kings!"
Saitama steps up.
He taps his shoes with the wooden bat.
He points the bat at the outfield fence.
"I'm gonna hit it," Saitama announces. "And then I'm gonna get that coupon. And I'm gonna buy the expensive beef."
**The Pitch.**
Zeus winds up.
He coils his legs.
The air pressure drops. The spectators hold their breath. Even Fubuki stops eating hot dogs.
**"THE PITCH THAT SURPASSED TIME!"**
Zeus throws.
The ball stops moving in time. It exists in all locations simultaneously between the mound and the plate. It is infinite. It is inevitable.
Saitama watches the ball freeze.
"Boring," Saitama says.
He grips the cheap wooden bat.
He engages his hips.
He doesn't use technique. He uses **WANT.**
**Serious Series: Serious Swing.**
He swings.
The wooden bat hits the time-frozen ball.
Usually, wood breaks against divinity.
But Saitama's swing imparts so much structural reinforcement through sheer grip strength that the wood becomes harder than diamonds.
*KRAK-KA-KOOM.*
The impact restarts time violently.
The ball screams.
It turns red. Then white. Then invisible.
It tears through Blast's forcefield.
It tears through the stadium wall.
It tears through the atmosphere.
It tears through the ozone.
The ball exits the planet.
It flies past the Moon.
It flies past Mars.
It keeps going until it hits a wandering comet, shattering it, before vanishing into deep space.
"HOME RUN!" Blast yells, checking his sensors. "Distance: 4 Light Years!"
**The Celebration (and Tragedy).**
"Yes!" Saitama throws the bat down.
He runs the bases. First. Second. Third.
"Free rent! Free food!"
He touches home plate.
"I won!" Saitama cheers, raising his hands.
"Gimme the coupon!"
He turns to the pedestal.
It is gone.
In its place is a pile of ash.
The shockwave from his Serious Swing... was *behind* him too.
The backdraft vaporized the catcher (Poseidon, who regenerated) and the umpire stand.
And the Coupon.
Saitama stares at the ash.
He falls to his knees.
The grey color returns to his world. The horror music plays.
"My savings..." Saitama whispers. "My... premium lifestyle..."
**Epilogue.**
**Valhalla Medical Tent.**
Zeus lies on a stretcher. His arm is dislocated from the pitch.
But he is smiling.
"Did you see that?" Zeus wheezes. "I made him swing seriously. That... is my victory."
**Saitama's Apartment. Night.**
The party is over. The stadium is being disassembled.
Saitama sits at the table, staring at a blank wall.
Genos places a bowl of udon in front of him.
"Master. Do not despair. The coupon is lost, but the victory is recorded. Also, I managed to save the souvenir cup."
Genos holds up a plastic cup that says *'I Survived the God-Slam Baseball Game'.*
Saitama looks at the cup.
He sighs.
He picks up his chopsticks.
"It's just udon tonight, Genos?"
"Yes, Master. With an extra egg."
Saitama smiles. Just a little.
"Okay. An egg is good."
Outside, on the balcony, **Satan** and **King** are looking at the stars.
"You see that glimmer?" King points.
"Yes," Satan nods. "A new star."
"That's the baseball," King says. "It's still going."
Satan shudders.
"Remind me never to pitch to him."
The merged world settles into a quiet night.
Gods learn humility.
Heroes learn limits.
And Saitama... well, Saitama just learns that coupons are fleeting, but cheap udon is forever.